


with a moment's faith

by Elisye



Series: wake up, birthday girl (it's the end of an era) [5]
Category: Subarashiki Kono Sekai | The World Ends With You
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Drabble Collection, Gen, Post-Game(s), Snippets
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:47:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25623880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elisye/pseuds/Elisye
Summary: As much as her subordinates debate it, they all agree that the Composer of Shibuya can be a rather strange woman.
Relationships: Misaki Shiki & Original Character
Series: wake up, birthday girl (it's the end of an era) [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1184453
Comments: 7
Kudos: 8





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> none of you asked for plotless nothings feat. a bunch of ocs BUT TOO BAD!!!!!!!!! i wanna talk about the ocs i made for this au whenever so i will and this is gonna be my dumping ground for fun little interactions between em ww

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shibuya is the capital of fashion. Of course its supervisor has some opinions on the subject.

“The red one.”

Shizuko blinks. The Composer doesn’t falter.

“The red one,” instead, the woman repeats, her hand steady as she continues to write a report of the week’s results in small, quiet strokes. “If you want to be daring, wear the red ribbons.”

“I, how—” Experience catches up, and the young Officer clamps her mouth shut, an almost audible clack of teeth and muscle and jaw bone echoing over the overwhelming gurgle of the artificial waterfall on one side of the room. Shizuko blinks, breathes, soft and sharp, and her doubts are moved to a corner of her mind with a practiced ease.

So, instead, “I’m not sure if they suit me, though.”

“Then, does it suit you to be a daring person?”

“Everyone thinks...” The girl frowns, a mental sigh curling over her, berating in tone - _don’t fall back to the old habits, to the old you_ \- before she shakes her head to clear out the clouds. “I think it suits me. But the red ones are a little too—”

“It should be fine then.” The Composer finishes writing one page and moves to the next. But ink doesn’t meet paper - her pen rolls to the side, an idle sway over the polished wood of her desk, and remains ignored for longer than a distracting pause would warrant. It’s almost ominous. It _is_ ominous, really.

But Shizuko doesn’t bat an eyelash. After all, Shibuya seems to love bestowing her undivided, unexpected attention with the suddenness of a late monsoon. Her subordinates are just used to it now - to the unpredictable rhyme and untold reasons.

"The point of clothes and fashion is self-expression. If you want to wear bright red ribbons in your hair, then wear them."

_I think people wear clothes for a more fundamental reason, though..._

She doesn't say that, of course, but the Composer can probably hear her thoughts regardless.

"I suppose so," Shizuko hums in place of her thoughts, nodding lightly. Her own opinions aside - it's not false commentary, honestly. As much as fashion calls for attention and beauty, at the end of the day, it's just for the person wearing the clothes. Everyone living in Shibuya knows that.

Naturally, its guardian god would iterate the same. Support the same.

"...Tomorrow, then. I'll start wearing them tomorrow."

No response is returned for her decision, save for the slightest nod of the head and the barest hint of a smile. It's enough.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A typical meeting between Reapers before a Game starts. It's not always as orderly as some might think.

“Do you think the Composer has a secret lover?”

The room goes dreadfully silent. The only singular sounds that follow are the small, sharp snaps of necks swerving to look, and Akane dropping his chopsticks onto the floor.

Koutarou continues to stare into the soft yellow lights in the ceiling, a thoughtful frown on his face.

“Kou...” Akane finally breaks, yet to notice his poor chopsticks rolling by his feet. “Where the _hell_ did that come from?”

“Ah, well, I’ve just been thinking on it.”

“Why would you even—” Akane stutters over his gaping disbelief and his chopsticks-less bowl of ramen. Next to him, Aoi sighs and puts his head in his hands. After all, such nonsensical musings are a near-common thing when it comes to Koutarou. Akane and Aoi are used to it, the randomness and the absurdness of such tendencies.

The issue is the situation, right now. Small facts, such as the three boys are currently sitting in a meeting to discuss next week’s Game - which means, a) they’re in the Composer’s office, b) their friends and coworkers are here, right there, and c) everyone is _staring._

Their only saving grace is that the Composer herself is out on other business. She trusts her Reapers to be able to hold simple meetings like these on their own, thank _god._

Standing on one side of their boss’ desk, Fuuya chortles and soon starts to double over with muffled laughter. Shizuko lightly nudges him to stop laughing. The man just sinks to the floor and laughs harder.

“...If the Composer had anyone like that,” Mashiro hums with a smile, tapping a pale finger to a corner of his lips, “it might explain a lot.”

“Uhhhh?” Akane voices intelligently.

“It would, wouldn’t it?” Koutarou beams back. Aoi groans.

“It would certainly explain her preference for absence. And she is a notoriously private lady - I wouldn’t be surprised if she had someone in her life that she would want to keep visiting over the likes of us.”

“But that, um.” Haruto, the unusual transfer from Nerima, pipes up with a half-grimace. “Like, no offense, I respect her as my boss and everything so I’m not trying to be rude or anything - but that, uh. Implies she can have someone like that at all. And I can’t really imagine that when she acts, well.”

“—Acts coldly? Prickly? Like she disdains the very concept of human interaction, at least with us? We all know what she’s like.” Ren laughs, leaning from behind one of the couches to cross his arms and settle his chin on Koutarou’s head. The blond boy doesn’t even blink at how he’s being made to support the full weight of an adult man on his skull.

Haruto rubs a hand on the back of his neck. “I wouldn’t say she hates talking to people, but...”

“The Composer just isn’t the affectionate type, is what you’re getting at.”

"I guess? I understand why she would be though—"

“Miyano,” Mashiro cuts in, with a tone as delicate as a needle, his smile sharpening in the same vein, “would you stop using Urushima’s head as a cushion while you talk?”

Ren just smiles back like a polished mirror. Which is to say, simply so, _infuriatingly._

“What, should I use his head as a table then? He’s a pretty thickheaded kid, so I don’t think he would care if I start taking notes like this.”

“Dad did say that Mom used to drop me a lot as a baby,” Koutarou offers, unhelpfully. A complicated bundle of thoughts passes over Mashiro’s face.

A series of sharp claps disrupts the talkative atmosphere. Everyone stops to look at Shizuko, who has a familiar face of exasperation after giving up on getting her fellow Officer to stop choking on laughter on the floor. 

The girl takes a deep breath as she looks everyone in the eye. “Alright everyone, enough gossiping! We have a Game to run soon, and if the Boss finds out we’re gossiping about things like - like her love life, of all things, you _know_ what she would do to us.”

There is a slight, but obvious chill in the room at that. The only ones seemingly unaffected are rather sunny people like Koutarou or rather unfathomable people like Mashiro. Everyone else just murmurs or nods in tiny agreement, and the conversation soon tilts back into what it was earlier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A quick reference and summary for the Reaper OCs in this drabble, first-last name order:
> 
> -Akane Sasue - Support, died at age 15  
> -Aoi Uehara - Support, died at age 15  
> -Koutarou Urushima - Support, died at age 15  
> -Mashiro Momozuchi - Harrier, died at age 19  
> -Ren Miyano - Harrier, died at age 24  
> -Haruto Suzuki - Former Harrier in Nerima and Support in Shibuya, died at age 20  
> -Fuuya Ooyama - Officer, died at age 22  
> -Shizuko Hoshino - Officer, died at age 16


End file.
